After several delays, Guelph-Eramosa council has finally passed a bylaw that increases indoor shooting hours and curtails outdoor shooting hours at a local gun club.
The Guelph Rod and Gun?Club, located off County Road 29 southwest of Eden Mills, had members ask in?December for an exemption to the township’s firearms bylaw.
The club, previously barred from any shooting on?Sundays, wanted to operate its “sound insulated” indoor range seven days per week, from 9am to 11pm. The Eden Mills steering committee objected to that proposal and even suggested the gun club should be shut down permanently.
But over the course of several weeks, both sides met at least twice and seemed to agree on several stipulations.
And last week, council unanimously passed a bylaw that endorsed those stipulations, including:
– permitting indoor shooting from 9am to 10pm, 365 days a year;
– no outdoor shooting on Sundays, Christmas day, Good Friday or during the weekend of the Eden Mills Writers’ Festival;
– no outdoor shooting after 6pm on Fridays; and
– on Saturdays and from Monday to Thursday, outdoor shooting shall cease 30 minutes after sunset or 9pm (whichever comes first).
Council last week also re-committed to reviewing the new bylaw in September.
